Some time ago I decided I needed some serious 18650 batteries . Looking on Feebay I came across the SONY VTC4 rated to 30A continuous discharge . Hmmmm , I called BS on this claim but purchased a pair in anyway as I like to test stuff before speaking out of turn .

I have no way of testing 30A discharge …
But what I thought might be interesting was seeing if these batteries could power a RC buggy ( WL toys 12428 4WD ) ..
To that end I built a battery carrier with some spring bye passes ( dont put in spring bye passes ? and the springs will glow like toaster elements ) …
Those first 2 batteries were awesome ..
This is a test with a 2nd set of VTC4 from another Feebay source .. And color me impressed .
Now I have 4 x VTC4 for flashlight testing .

Ambient temp during the test ( drive ) was 31 deg Celsius in the shade … ( Yes the batteries got warm – toaster oven warm )
And when I noticed how warm the batteries were I ended the test . ( batteries can move in the cradle and break contact ) = It is a 4WD buggy after all ..
All previous testing was done in cooler conditions and with the Tx set to 50 to 60% Throttle ..
This test was with the Tx set to 100% and it was much warmer ..
So the discharge current would have been very high .

Enjoy the video :

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Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….

I have had a 18650 cooking hot ( after a short ) , and that battery was ok for over half a decade …
These Sony were hot , but not hot enough to be damaged .. ( Well I hope not )
But when the 18650 lost contact in the carrier , I figured the batteries had proven themselves .

But certainly a brutal test for a 18650 ..
But these Sony rock hard … And should prove to be awesome in a flashlight .
At least I will know that these batteries wont be holding back performance .
Also they are really well matched for capacity and discharge .
I don’t know if you can buy a better 18650 for the money ?

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Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….

I think the VTC5A is able to provide the most continuous discharge rate. At least 30A according to HKJ.

“The discharge curves has very good tracking and the cell handles the 30A discharge nicely.”

“The cell was very close to the cut-off temperature at the end of the 30A discharge.”

I guess 30A is the limit.Not bad!

The VTC5A is my favorite cell w/ the 30Q being next.

Mooch rates it at 25A. He says At 30A continuous the temperature rose to 92°C. This is way above the average temperature of a cell running at its CDR and is an indication that we’re above the cell’s true rating

Thevtc 4 is a great cell. I prefer the 20r to it though. Usually cheaper and pretty much same performance.

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2/9 Fox Co (2009-2015) Semper Fi 0311/0331 Rifleman/Machine Gunner
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